XML 44 R26.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.24.0.1
Related Party Transactions (Notes)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related Party Transactions Related Party Transactions
The following sets forth certain transactions in which the Company and a director, executive officer, or other related party of the Company are involved or, in the case of the management arrangements, subsidiaries that are debt issuers that pay certain of their parent companies for services.

Charter is a party to management arrangements with its subsidiary, Spectrum Management Holding Company, LLC ("Spectrum Management"), and certain of their subsidiaries. Under these agreements, Charter, Spectrum Management and Charter Holdco provide management services for the cable systems owned or operated by their subsidiaries. Costs associated with providing these services are charged directly to the Company’s operating subsidiaries. All other costs incurred on behalf of Charter’s operating subsidiaries are considered a part of the management fee. These costs are recorded as a component of operating costs and expenses, in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The management fee charged to the Company’s operating subsidiaries approximated the expenses incurred by Spectrum Management, Charter Holdco and Charter on behalf of the Company’s operating subsidiaries in 2023, 2022 and 2021.

Liberty Broadband and A/N

Under the terms of the Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement among Charter, Liberty Broadband and A/N, dated as of May 23, 2015 (as amended, the “Stockholders Agreement”), the number of Charter’s directors is fixed at 13. Two designees selected by A/N are members of the board of directors of Charter and three designees selected by Liberty Broadband are members of Charter's Board of Directors. The remaining eight directors are not designated by either A/N or Liberty Broadband. Each of A/N and Liberty Broadband is entitled to nominate at least one director to each of the committees of Charter’s Board of Directors, subject to applicable stock exchange listing rules and certain specified voting or equity ownership thresholds for each of A/N and Liberty Broadband, and provided that the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Compensation and Benefit Committee each have at least a majority of directors independent from A/N, Liberty Broadband and Charter (referred to as the “unaffiliated directors”). Each of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Compensation and Benefits Committee is currently comprised of three unaffiliated directors and one designee of each of A/N and Liberty Broadband. A/N and Liberty Broadband also have certain other committee designation and governance rights. Pursuant to the terms of Mr. Thomas Rutledge’s employment agreement, Mr. Rutledge stepped down from his position as the Executive Chairman of the Company and the Board of Directors at the end of his employment term on November 30, 2023, but continues to serve as a director emeritus. In conjunction with Mr. Rutledge’s retirement from the Board of Directors, Mr.
Christopher Winfrey was appointed to the Board of Directors effective November 30, 2023 to fill the vacancy resulting from Mr. Rutledge’s resignation. Mr. Eric Zinterhofer was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors effective November 30, 2023 upon the retirement of Mr. Rutledge as Executive Chairman.

In December 2016, Charter and A/N entered into a letter agreement, as amended in December 2017 (the “A/N Letter Agreement”) that requires A/N to sell to Charter or to Charter Holdings, on a monthly basis, a number of shares of Charter Class A common stock or Charter Holdings common units that represents a pro rata participation by A/N and its affiliates in any repurchases of shares of Charter Class A common stock from persons other than A/N effected by Charter during the immediately preceding calendar month, at a purchase price equal to the average price paid by Charter for the shares repurchased from persons other than A/N during such immediately preceding calendar month. A/N and Charter both have the right to terminate or suspend the pro rata repurchase arrangement on a prospective basis. Pursuant to the TRA between Charter and A/N, Charter must pay to A/N 50% of the tax benefit when realized by Charter from the step-up in tax basis resulting from any future exchange or sale of the common units. See Note 17 for more information.

In February 2021, Charter and Liberty Broadband entered into a letter agreement (the “LBB Letter Agreement”). The LBB Letter Agreement implements Liberty Broadband’s obligations under the Stockholders Agreement to participate in share repurchases by Charter. Under the LBB Letter Agreement, Liberty Broadband will sell to Charter, generally on a monthly basis, a number of shares of Charter Class A common stock representing an amount sufficient for Liberty Broadband’s ownership of Charter to be reduced such that it does not exceed the ownership cap then applicable to Liberty Broadband under the Stockholders Agreement at a purchase price per share equal to the volume weighted average price per share paid by Charter for shares repurchased during such immediately preceding calendar month other than (i) purchases from A/N, (ii) purchases in privately negotiated transactions or (iii) purchases for the withholding of shares of Charter Class A common stock pursuant to equity compensation programs of Charter.

Gregory Maffei, a director of Charter and President and CEO and director and holder of an 8.4% voting interest in Liberty Broadband, is Chairman of the board of directors of Qurate Retail, Inc. ("Qurate") and Dr. John Malone, a director emeritus of Charter, Chairman of the board of directors of Liberty Broadband and holder of a 48.9% voting interest in Liberty Broadband, also serves on the Qurate board of directors. As reported in SEC filings of Qurate, Mr. Maffei and Dr. Malone, Mr. Maffei has ownership of an approximate 20.1% voting interest in Qurate and Dr. Malone has ownership of an approximate 6.6% voting interest in Qurate. Qurate wholly owns HSN, Inc. (“HSN”) and QVC, Inc. (“QVC”). The Company has programming relationships with HSN and QVC. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the Company recorded revenue in aggregate of approximately $47 million, $43 million and $48 million, respectively, from HSN and QVC as part of channel carriage fees and revenue sharing arrangements for home shopping sales made to customers in the Company’s footprint.

Equity Investments
The Company has agreements with certain equity investees (see Note 5) pursuant to which the Company has made or received related party transaction payments for the receipt of goods or services. The Company recorded payments to equity investees totaling $180 million, $213 million and $229 million during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.